Blend if what???

There have been numerous occasions that I have gone into Photoshop, double clicked on a layer to adjust the Layer Styles and have seen the “Blend if” dialogue.  I always thought, “Blend if what?”.  

I also cannot tell you how many times I attempted to use this adjustment and been dumbfounded by its results.  More often than not I would say, “well that didn’t do anything” or “when would I ever use this.”  

Blend-If

Recently, I forced myself to learn it and ran through several hundred scenarios to begin to understand it.  It wasn’t until I made a mock up color wheel and a black layer that I truly began to understand it.

To make it easier to understand, instead of “Blend if,” replace that with Protect…  “Protect the underlaying layer” and so on.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to understand the Blend If dialogue as well as show you a real world scenario where it becomes invaluable.  When Color Grading a photograph, the Blend If option is truly a life saver!

Blake Rudis
f.64 Academy and f.64 Elite are the brainchildren of Blake Rudis. While he is a landscape photographer, he is most passionate about post-processing images in Photoshop and mentoring others.

For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
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